1. ISRAEL VEHEMENTLY DENIES SPY ALLEGATIONS… Israel is strongly denying allegations that it illegally received classified information from a Pentagon official whose conduit was AIPAC, Israel’s American lobby. Media reports say the FBI has been on the case for a year and is expected to indict Larry Franklin, a midlevel analyst in the policy office. Franklin is said to be cooperating with investigators. Making the case more scandalous, Franklin works under undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith, who is staunchly pro-Israel and the author of the Pentagon’s case for waging war against Saddam Hussein. Revelation of the investigation has also returned Jonathan Pollard to the spotlight, the former civilian Navy intelligence analyst who is in his 19th year of a sentence of life with no parole for passing classified information to Israel in the 1980s. One analyst cautioned The Media Line against forming final judgments in the case on the theory that Israel has too much to lose by being implicated in another spying-against-America scandal to justify the risk. He also questioned the timing of accusations that center on one of President Bush’s greatest vulnerabilities: the assessments leading to the Iraqi war. Analyst Ze’ev Schiff of the Hebrew daily Haaretz, points out that prior to being named head of the American Central Intelligence Agency, George Tenet accused Israel of having a spy in Washington and was criticized for his assertion.
2. ISRAEL KILLS PALESTINIAN NEARING GAZA BORDER COMMUNITY… Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian on Sunday morning as he neared the fence that separates the Gaza Strip and the Israeli Negev community of Nahal Oz. Of three gunmen who were spotted, one was killed and the other two escaped. The dead man was armed with an AK-47 automatic rifle according to Israel Radio. As has often been the case, the averted attack came only hours after Israel eased a security precaution. This time, Israel had lifted the blockade that effectively split the Gaza Strip’s main north-south route into three pieces. The roadblocks were put in place after a Qassam rocket attack on the Israeli town of Sderot on Thursday. The army said the latest move was in response to security assessments. On Friday, the Israeli army rescued three Israelis who had taken a wrong turn and ended up in the Palestinian city of Ramallah, where they came under attack. Two trucks were traveling together when they got lost. The vehicles were pelted with rocks, their occupants dragged out and were being beaten when the soldiers arrived.
3. GHANDI GRANDSON LEADS PEACEFUL PALESTINIAN RALLY… An estimated 2,000 protestors – Israeli and Palestinian – demonstrated in Abu Dis – an Arab village that straddles the boundaries of Municipal Jerusalem — on Saturday, under the patronage of Mahatma Ghandi’s grandson. They called for non-violent opposition to end the “occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.” Arun Ghandi is in Israel to preach non-violence to the Palestinians. He was joined in addressing the rally by Ahmad Qurei’, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority. Standing before Israel’s controversial security barrier which runs through Abu Dis, Ghandi said “the wall reminds me of South Africa.” On Thursday, Ghandi addressed a rally of 5,000 Palestinians in a Ramallah stadium, admonishing his audience of the holiness of human life.
4. PALESTINIAN PRISONERS BREAK HUNGER STRIKE; ISRAEL DENIES COMPROMISE… Palestinian prisoners at one Israeli prison who have been holding a hunger strike for two weeks to demand improvements in their conditions, began drinking milk and juice on Saturday. While the prisoners said it was in response to prison officials accepting some of their demands, prison officials denied any compromise had been reached. Prisoners told of specific agreements with prison officials in a phone call to an Israeli newspaper.
5. PALESTINIANS PUBLICLY EXECUTE ALLEGED COLLABORATOR… Palestinians from Yassir Arafat’s Al-Aq’sa Martyrs Brigades publicly executed a 27-year-old man on Saturday night. Hasan Abu ‘Soufia, who was accused of collaborating with Israel, was taken from Ramallah to the nearby Al-Am’ari refugee camp where he was riddled with bullets outside a mosque and in the presence of onlookers. Abu ‘Soufia was the latest in a long line of alleged collaborators to be killed in public. His killers said he had helped Israel to locate terrorist fugitives.
6. LEBANESE PARLIAMENT MOVING TOWARDS EXTENDING REIGN OF DAMASCUS FAVORITE… The Lebanese cabinet has approved a bill that would change the constitution in order to allow Syrian-loyalist Emile Lahoud to serve an additional term as president. The measure does, however, set the new term at three rather than six years. If passed by the legislature, it would be the third time in nine years that Damascus succeeded in making a constitutional change to keep its favorite in power. That the measure is expected to pass in spite of very broad opposition is seen as an indication of Syrian control over Lebanon.
7. ITALY REAFFIRMS ROLE IN IRAQ AFTER EXECUTION OF JOURNALIST… Italy says it will not bow to terrorist threats following the execution of an Italian journalist in Iraq. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi condemned the killing of Enzo Baldoni and insisted Italy’s military commitment in Iraq will not lessen. Italy has a force of 3,000 soldiers in Iraq as part of the U.S.-led coalition. Italian officials were caught off guard when word of the execution came down. It was believed that progress was being made in negotiations with those holding Baldoni hostage. Another Italian national, a private security guard, was killed by terrorists last April.
8. CHIRAC: IMPOSE PEACE ON MIDDLE EAST… French President Jacques Chirac says that the international community should impose peace talks to reach a settlement in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Addressing a meeting of France’s diplomatic corps in Paris, Chirac chastised the world for “accepting this tragedy that is crushing lives and peoples,” and said, “We must encourage, maybe even impose the resumption of a negotiations process between the parties.” Chirac has called for an international force to keep the peace in the Gaza Strip after Israel withdraws unilaterally.